The Echo is reporting that the Pairc will be renoved into a 60,000 seater stadium.

Balmed Out

THE GAA wants to redevelop
Páirc Uí Chaoimh into a
state-of-the-art 60,000-seat
sports and concert venue.
The County Board ended months of
speculation by last night revealing its
plans in a submission lodged to Cork
City Council for the Draft South
Docks Local Area Plan public cons
u l t at ion.
Other proposals include:
● 400-space car park and team bus car
pa rk ;
● Restaurant and dining facilities;
● Park and ride/taxi drop-off area;
● Warm-up and all-weather pitch.

If these plans get the go-ahead, Cork
would have the second largest stadium
in the country, behind Croke
Park, which has a capacity of 82,000.
The Cork stadium would be bigger
than the redeveloped Lansdowne Road
(50,000), while also outstripping other
Munster GAA venues.
The new Páirc Uí Chaoimh would
also compare favourably with English
Premiership stadia, with only
Manchester United’s Old Trafford
(76,000) boasting a larger capacity.
The plans were revealed at City Hall
last night, where councillors met to
debate amendments to the South
Docklands blueprint.
Under its ambitious plan, the GAA
is also seeking to secure 16 acres from
the adjacent Munster Showgrounds
s i t e.
It had previously been reported in
the Evening Echo that the County
Board and senior city management
had held talks over a land transfer
that would facilitate the transformation
of Páirc ui Chaoimh.
These talks were made possible by
the local authority acquiring the
22-acre site from the Munster Agricultural
Society via Compulsory


Sounds ridiculous does'nt it. When would it ever get filled ? could it possibly ever get planning permission with only 400 car park spaces ? Would frank ever allow soccer or rugby there ? Would be cool for the odd cork and tipp final that might fill it and for concerts but it seems ridiculous.

bill_ashmount

Well it needs to get redeveloped, it's in an awful state, especially for a stadium that is so young. It's currently about 42,000 capacity I think and it used to be more. So 60,000 isn't out of the question, although as you said perhaps a bit much.

dulpit

While it sounds great and all, I'll believe it when i see it...

shnaek

It's a great idea to do it, for when Ireland hosts the World/European Cup! Yay! The more 60,000+ seaters the better.

smackbunnybaby

shnaek wrote: »

It's a great idea to do it, for when Ireland hosts the World/European Cup....

....for GAA

Prowetod

It would be great to see but I am not to sure will it happen in the next yeat or 2.:(

Agamemnon

It would be great to see this happen but how feasible it is will be another matter.

dulpit

Also, after re-reading it, the really good bit is how they mention it will be a concert venue also... Hopefully Cork could start to attract big names here...

Dudess

God, back in the 80s Michael Jackson and Prince played there. Seems bizarre now.

smackbunnybaby

i wonder would the GAA see it as a proper host stadium for an all ireland final.for example if cork and kerry got to the final of football again or two munster counties got to the final of the hurling? it doesnt make sense to always go to dublin.

but i suppose the GAA would argue the fact that there are 25, 000 extra seats in dublin and it has the tradition.

still thou, imagine the potentially massive concerts which could happen!
and free accomodation cus you live incork, no more of this up on the train malarky for 50 euro, 50 quid concert ticket, 100 euro stay somewhere, and whatever amount in food and drink!

Balmed Out

yeah the concert venue would be handy but i can never see an all ireland final there. Can only assume an all munster semi or quater final would be held there though which would be cool.

dulpit

smackbunnybaby wrote: »

still thou, imagine the potentially massive concerts which could happen!and free accomodation cus you live incork, no more of this up on the train malarky for 50 euro, 50 quid concert ticket, 100 euro stay somewhere, and whatever amount in food and drink!

That'd be the job... Such a bloody hassle getting up to the pale, taking time off college/work, booking accomodation & trains etc. which makes going to concerts a pain in the ass....

RoundyMooney

Absolutely.

Getting up there and sorting accomodation (given that most hotels consider parking an optional extra) is a soul destroying experience.

Then you get to pay premium prices for what is mostly mediocre service

Blitzkrieger

I hope they have bigger seats in the new stadium. I know I'm not exactly small but you'd have to be a severed torso to fit in the current seats.

juror

I'm sure the idea of having a 60,000 seater venue sounds great but i read an article in the tribune at the weekend in which they reported that the only munster gaa event which filled a stadium was the muntser hurling final, roughly 48,000+ ... so why do we neeed a 60,000 stadium? put the money into something like developing the game at grass roots instead

Papad

I was there on Sunday for the first time.
The seats were astonishingly small. Everyone around me was complaining about them. How did the GAA get away with that?
And we were all herded into the covered section of the stadium and when they ran out of room they told us over the loudspeakers to squeeze closer to accommodate the new arrivals. They would not open the other empty sections. It was extremely uncomfortable.

And when we tried to leave after the first game to make room for the supporters of the next game, the stewards just stood in the way on the pathways and exits points of the stand (not where you pay to come in). We had to push our way past them.

All in all, a bad experience. Hopefully, a new stadium would solve some of these problems.

shnaek

juror wrote: »

I'm sure the idea of having a 60,000 seater venue sounds great but i read an article in the tribune at the weekend in which they reported that the only munster gaa event which filled a stadium was the muntser hurling final, roughly 48,000+ ... so why do we neeed a 60,000 stadium? put the money into something like developing the game at grass roots instead

Better to build for the future though. Ireland is in a mess because so many people in charge here take a short term view. I mean, look at the m50 for example?! Look at the traffic around Cork city every weekday morning. Planning for the future is the only way to go, and if they're doing a job on the stadium they should do a job that doesn't mean another patchy auld job will have to be done in ten years time.